8 vs 70: A photographer from Ireland told how he visited the front line of the Armed Forces

Konnel Kirney often was in hot spots, but in the war in Ukraine he survived the "real hell". Konnel Kirney, a photographer from Belfasta told how he was ambushed during a war in Ukraine. Konnel was sent by United24, funded by the Ukrainian Government, to the Kaitariki unit, which was to fulfill a simple reconnaissance mission along the front line.

But as a result, everyone was injured in the unit, ambushed, and restrained the pressure of the Russians, who significantly exceeded their number, within 14 hours. The BBC writes about it. Kirny confessed that he was always interested in how the history of wars and conflicts was documented. At work, he had to travel the world, but his first attempts to take a picture of conflicts were much closer to the house: he documented "Various riots and parades" in Belfast.

He later moved to Berlin and removed the riots there. He covered the "Umbrella Revolution" in Hong Kong and elections in Lebanon in 2022. "It's like addiction. You're chasing this honey. You still have this genuine interest in the topic, but there is also excitement, especially when the situation is absolute What you get too much for you, ”Konnel admits. His work eventually led him to Ukraine in 2018 and he "fell in love with this country.

" When a full -scale invasion began five years later, he immediately went to Ukraine. "It was a direct train from Berlin to the border with Ukraine; in a week I was on the border with Russia," Kirny recalls that he was one of the latest journalists in Bakhmut, a Ukrainian city captured by Russian troops in February 2023. He also saw the height of the battle, and as the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation joined the city.

He also witnessed the offensive of the Russians in the Avdiivka area and the siege of Kharkiv. In Kirna and his colleague they joined the detachment of "Kifarika"-the unit of the 78th Regiment of the Airborne Assault troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. For security, he did not disclose specific information about the scene, although he confirmed that it happened in the Donbass. The Russian military attacked the unit suddenly in the morning, after three -hour shelling.

"As soon as it was over, a column of tanks entered our city. A real hell began," the photographer recalls. The shootout lasted 14 hours, used artillery and drones. Kirny estimated that there were about 70 Russian soldiers, while there were eight Ukrainian fighters. He mentioned that the Russians were so close that he could hear how they were developing an attack. When asked by the commander who should be the plan, he received the answer: "Death is not included in the plan.

We are going to escape, but this is probably won't work. " Their situation was hopeless: they were in the minority, they were injured and ammunition quickly ended. "I resigned to the fact that I am already dead," Kirney recalls. He asked one of the wounded soldiers of the Armed Forces that he was feeling and he answered that nothing: "I feel nothing, we are already dead. " "Everyone was injured. We heard the Russians crying out, demanding our blood.